K'Artanyik
Background A thri-kreen fighter, K'Artanyik (born 210 DA) is naturally inclined to work and fight as a part of a larger unit rather than by himself. In thri-kreen society, this would mean that K'Artanyik would do everything with his clutch- those other thri-kreen which are the same age as K'Artanyik. K'Artanyik, whose name in Thri-kreen means "Storm of the Searing Sands", has spent his entire life within the Desert of Bleached Bone. Prior to the events of The Jungle of Ragna, K'Artanyik's clutch were enslaved in an ambush by minotaurs loyal to Baphomet. K'Artanyik led a slave revolt, not out of desire for freedom, but because he determined that his slave master was a weak leader, and weak leaders must be challenged for the clutch must be strong. K'Artanyik carries a gythka, a two-headed spear traditionally used by Thri-Kreen for hunting. During the revolt, K'Artanyik was separated from his clutch, and he must undergo the Great Migration to catch up with them. Like all thri-kreen, K'Artanyik sees combat as a form of hunting. He fights not for glory or riches, but as a means to sustain his body and his clutch. He sees inedible combatants as less favorable to fight, although he understands the value of always practicing his hunting skills. While K'Artanyik does not fight out of malice or aggression, he will slay any creature who dares to threaten himself or his clutch. K'Artanyik has a single-minded attitude towards the well-being of his clutch. He will offer advice to the leader, for the clutch must be wise, yet he will challenge any decisions which serve to divide the clutch, for the clutch must be orderly. Racial Memory Whenever K'Artanyik goes into torpor he sees visions, racial memories of the lives of his ancestors. Ever since he liberated his clutch from the minotaurs, K'Artanyik has had recurring memories of a thri-kreen hunter with white eyes. K'Artanyik has been following in the footsteps of this ancestor, whom he learned was named Haazik. Unknowlingly, K'Artanyik's first step in following Haazik was to board a ship to a dangerous jungle island. Generations ago, Haazik crashed onto the Isle of Dread and explored yuan-ti ruins. Stumbling upon a portal, he was teleported to the forests of the White Well where he made a powerful ally in the Lady of the White Well. Haazik then travelled to Astrazalian where he joined the Sword Guard and met Bûrzum Rung-Pilik. Haazik excelled in the Sword Guard and defended the city against Fomorian attacks. Following these memories, K'Artanyik ended up on Ragna Island and explored the recently ruined city of Cendriane. He then returned to the forests of Ragna Island to regain his clutchmates as allies. K'Artanyik then traveled to Lumbrea, and joined the crew of The Venturer to defend Eilthyra against Zangretor Vicelord's attack. Later, Haazik traveled to the Maze of Fathaghn and was lost in the maze, where he battled dryads and treants. Haazik was badly wounded but managed to barely heal himself enough to escape. Similarly, K'Artanyik travelled to the Labyrinth City of Leng in the elemental chaos, where he battled demons and bestial minotaurs. In the city K'Artanyik found his way to the center of the labyrinth, where he battled a demonic minotaur lord. Badly wounded, he placed upon his head the minotaur lord's Iron Crown of Leng, which transformed him into an elemental Ironwrought, and healed him enough so that he could barely escape with his life into a portal to the Feywild at the center of the Labyrinth. The Jungle of Ragna K'Artanyik joins the party on the great migration in order to search for his clutch. He views them as a surrogate clutch, admiring qualities in each member. Even though he is initially hostile towards Trakas Cleavesong, K'Artanyik begrudgingly learns to accept him. Whenever K'Artanyik becomes excited his antennae wriggle about and he shouts exclamations in Thri-kreen. He becomes impatient whenever he feels that the party is taking too long to decide on a plan of action, and prefers to step in and take the lead in such situations in order to prevent the party's progress from stagnating. Being one of the few times in his life that he has interacted with non-kreen races, K'Artanyik is somewhat naive and uneducated in finer social graces of other cultures. K'Artanyik fights using a parrying gythka, given to him by Zangretor Vicelord in exchange for his assistance in retrieving Zangretor's magic dagger. As a tempest fighter, he prefers to enter the fray facing multiple enemies to that he can lock them down and punish them for trying to attack his allies. K'Artanyik utilizes an unorthodox fighting style, attacking primarily using the off-hand end of his gythka in order to surprise his enemies. K'Artanyik first found signs that his clutch was alive in Cendriane, where he discovered warnings of the raffle infestation written in Chachik, the Thri-Kreen script. He also discovered a chatkcha among the bodies of dead raffles while taking refuge withing a house in Cendriane. After helping to defend the refugee camp of Marneiros Loreweaver, K'Artanyik discovered that his clutch had been shipwrecked on Ragna Island along with Sha-Karn. K'Artanyik next heard from his clutch in Lumbrea, when they sent a spider to deliver a message. While in his torpor, the spider told K'Artanyik to meet his clutch at the beginning of the next degree. When he and the party met up with his clutch, K'Artanyik was horrified to discover that they had been infected with raffle spores. With hope for their possible recovery, he beseeched the party to spare their lives in combat. After knocking the clutch unconcious, K'Artanyik worked with the party and Sha-Karn to cure his clutch's parasitization by giving Sha-Karn a flask of greenbane. To open the battle against Zangretor's forces K'Artanyik launched a rock with his dejada from 100 feet away, knocking a tiefling seaman out of a crow's nest, sending him crashing to his death onto the deck of The Retribution fifty feet below. As the party fought the Lumbrean sailors aboard The Retribution K'Artanyik landed the killing blow against Zangretor, impaling him on his gythka. After The Venturer returned to Eilthyra K'Artanyik decided that he could not passively return with his clutch to the Desert of Bleached Bone, and instead led them to defend the enslaved and fight for justice. Rise of the New God K'Artanyik joined with Krusk, Bûrzum Rung-Pilik, and Ildirin Suvarmaq to discover the secrets of the Garden of Graves in the Feywild. He quickly adopted the others as a new clutch dubbed Pronefest, and they bonded over their superior strength and love of the hunt. In Krusk, K'Artanyik was glad to hunt side by side with another fighter. In Senaliesse K'Artanyik was appointed to the winter fey in the service of Grypherio Van Gandt. He used his inclusion in the winter fey to peacefully negotiate with the winter treants when the first invaded The Maze of Fathaghn, which granted him access to the Whisper in the Willows and a Frost Gythka. K'Artanyik accepted his inclusion as a Shiere Knight of the winter fey, training with his cold weapon to become a more efficient hunter. K'Artanyik was eventually gifted the floating keep of Goodwater for his service to Grypherio and the winter fey. On his waist K'Artanyik wears a jet pack which he found among the possessions of the Eladrin in Black. He also acts as Pronefest's porter, carrying a wide variety of items in a Haverford's Handy Haversack. As a fighter K'Artanyik learned to work as a part of the team that is Pronefest. He learned the hunting style of the World Serpent so that he could knock prone prey which Krusk had grabbed. He also became familiar with lighter ring mail so that he could move more quickly over the battlefield. K'Artanyik's hunting philosophy has been to strike hard and sure, and he has focused on training in hunting techniques which allow the hunter to fell multiple prey at once. While he proves himself as a fearsome combatant, K'Artanyik is not overly malicious or cruel. He once carried one of his former enemies, a member of the Eladrin in Black, through the city of Moil in order to keep him safe from death. Titles The Lean, Mean, Fighter Thri-kreen: K'Artanyik was granted this title by Romeus when he and Pronefest were first introduced to The Court of Stars. Shiere Knight of the Winter Fey: K'Artanyik was granted this title by Grypherio Van Gandt when he was selected to serve the interests of the Winter Fey. Spearsaint: K'Artanyik granted himself this title when he became a kensei and was masterfully proficient in using the gythka as a weapon. G'Tok-hoz of Goodwater: K'Artanyik granted himself this title when he became a hordemaster, as he finally deemed himself strong enough to lead thri-kreen from his keep at Goodwater. G'Tok-hoz means "clutchleader" in the Thri-kreen language. Clutch Pik-ik-cha: Second-in-command (female) Ka'cha: Spirit Advisor (female) Tak-tha: Medic (male) Sa'Relka: Chatkcha expert, Sister to K'Artanyik (female) Hakka: Navigator, Cousin to K'Artanyik (male) Appearance K'Artanyik stands 6'6" tall, and weighs 200 lbs. His body is covered in chitinous plates the color of wet sand, and his back bears scars from the short time he spent as a slave. The multi--faceted eyes on his wedge-shaped head are colored golden-yellow. While his powerful mandibles allow him to speak an accented form of common, he finds the Thri-kreen language much easier to pronounce. K'Artantik has six limbs- the bottom pair is used as normal legs, and the top pair as normal three-fingered arms. His middle pair of limbs lack the strength of his top pair, so he does not use them to wield weapons. Rather, K'Artanyik uses his middle limbs to hold objects and pass any weapons he may be carrying on his person to his upper limbs for hunting. He has sharpened the claws on his middle limbs so that he may be able to eviscerate his prey during a hunt. Statistics, Powers, and Equipment Powers: '''Combat Agility, Footwork Lure, Dual Strike, Funneling Flurry, Tempest Dance, Steely Resolve, Rain of Blows, Rain of Steel, Kirre's Roar, Come and Get It, Stone Fist Flurry of Blows, Jackal Strike, Defensive Advance, Bash and Pummel, Dust Storm Assault, Kinetic Chitin, Harrying Assault, Strike of the Watchful Guard, Undeniable Challenge, Warrior's Urging, Marking Barrage, Cruel Reaper, Force the Battle '''Feats: Thri-Kreen Weapon Master, Wintertouched, Spear Expertise, Toughness, Monastic Disciple (acrobatics), Superior Reflexes, World Serpent's Grasp, Armor Specializarion (Chainmail), Lasting Frost, Superior Fortitude, Armor Proficiency: Ring Mail, Iron Will, Spear Mastery, Rapid Combat Challenge, Mobile Warrior, Triumphant Attack, Agile Tempest, Superior Initiative Equipment: Frost Gythka +6, Strikebacks, Crysteel Ring Mail Armor of Dogged Grit +6, Dejada, Amulet of Life +6, Iron Armbands of Power (epic tier), Boots of the Fencing Master, Diamond Cincture (epic tier), Circlet of Arkhosia (epic tier), Whispers in the Willows, Jet Pack, Handy Haversack, Ring of Fury, Backlash Tattoo, Ring of Winter (level 29), Elven Chain Shirt (epic tier), Solitaire (Aquamarine), Five Stars Five Strikes, Stone of Earth, Southern Star Cleave the Boulder, Standard of the Silver Dragon Category:People